What We Know Right Now: The NASA Summary
The Space Shuttle Columbia and its seven
astronauts were lost Friday when the vehicle broke up over north
central Texas during its reentry from orbit.
Communications were lost with Columbia and its crew at around
8:00 a.m. CST, while the shuttle was traveling about 18 times the
speed of sound at an altitude of 207,000 feet. Columbia was 16
minutes from landing at the Kennedy Space Center when flight
controllers at Mission Control lost contact with the vehicle.
Columbia was returning from a 16-day scientific research mission,
its 28th flight, which launched on January 16.
Aboard Columbia were Commander Rick Husband, completing his
second flight, Pilot William McCool, wrapping up his first mission,
Mission Specialists Dave Brown, also completing his first mission,
Kalpana Chawla, on her second flight, Laurel Clark, a first-time
space traveler, Payload Commander Mike Anderson, ending his second
flight, and Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon of the Israel Space
Agency, on his first flight.
Prior to the loss of communications with Columbia,
the shuttle's return to Earth appeared perfectly normal. After
assessing some wispy fog near the shuttle's three-mile long landing
strip at KSC before dawn, Entry Flight Director Leroy Cain gave
approval for the firing of the shuttle's braking rockets to begin
its descent from orbit.
Husband and McCool began the deorbit burn to allow Columbia to
slip out of orbit at 7:15 a.m. CST. There was no indication of
anything abnormal with Columbia's reentry until the last
communications between Mission Control and the crew.
At Columbia's intended landing site, NASA Administrator Sean
O'Keefe and Associate Administrator for Space Flight William Readdy
met with the families of the astronauts to offer their condolences,
vowed to uncover the cause of the accident and press ahead with the
Shuttle program.
"This is indeed a tragic day for the NASA family, for the
families of the astronauts who flew on STS-107, and likewise is
tragic for the nation," said O'Keefe.
"We have no indication that the mishap was caused by anything or
anyone on the ground," O'Keefe added.
In a briefing, Chief Flight Director Milt Heflin said that
around 7:53 a.m. CST, just minutes before communications were lost
with Columbia, flight controllers detected indications of a
loss of hydraulic system temperature measurements
associated with Columbia's left wing, followed three minutes later
by an increase in temperatures on the left main gear tires
and brakes. At 7:58 a.m., flight controllers noted a loss
of bondline temperature sensor data in the area of the left
wing followed a minute later by a loss of data on
tire temperatures and pressures for the left inboard and outboard
tires.
After several attempts to try to contact Columbia, Cain declared
a contingency, whereby flight controllers began preserving
documentation regarding the entry phase of the flight. Recovery
forces fanned out from Texas to Louisiana to try to recover debris
that will be pertinent to the mishap investigation.

Space Shuttle Program Manager Ron Dittemore said several teams
have been organized to gather data for analysis and will report to
an external investigation board that was appointed by Administrator
O'Keefe. Dittemore added that no specific orbiter debris or crew
remains have been positively identified at this time, and that
there is no leading theory for the cause of the accident.
Dittemore (right) said the processing of other
shuttles at the Kennedy Space Center for future launches has been
temporarily halted to enable engineers to review data regarding
vehicle processing and to focus attention on capturing all
pertinent information involving Columbia's prelaunch
preparations.
NASA managers will be meeting on a regular basis to begin
reviewing data associated with Columbia's investigation. The next
status briefing from the Johnson Space Center is tentatively
scheduled from the Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX at 12:00 p.m.
CST Sunday. It will be seen on NASA Television with two-way
question and answer capability for reporters from NASA centers.
Onboard the ISS
On the International Space Station, Expedition 6 Commander Ken
Bowersox, Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin and NASA ISS Science
Officer Don Pettit were informed of the loss of Columbia and its
crew shortly after a Russian Progress resupply vehicle undocked
from the ISS. Filled with discarded items no longer needed on the
ISS, the Progress was commanded to deorbit by Russian flight
controllers and reentered the Earth's atmosphere.
A new
Progress cargo ship was launched Sunday from the Baikonur
Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, filled with supplies for the
Expedition 6 crew. It is scheduled to dock to the ISS Tuesday
morning. ISS program officials say, if necessary, the current
resident crew could remain in orbit until late June with the
supplies being ferried to the station on the new Progress.